Neither
by Kacy Myth
Summary: A remix of Both. Maybe they have a chance after all. (A.K.A a fic where it doesn't end terribly)


_AN: This is a remix of Both (and by extension No One Else). It is recommended though not essential that you read Both first so you know what's going on at the beginning. This fic diverges from Both after the first line._

_Edit: Both and No On Else are found under The Golems on my page. I transferred these from AO3. I apologize for the confusion. _

"I'll see you back at the guild," Natsu said. He closed his eyes and only the faint beating of his heart kept Lisanna from completely breaking down.

As her focus shifted from Natsu, she nearly passed out. Her sides were excruciatingly panful. She was certain she'd broken several ribs and she was bleeding profusely from several places. She reluctantly let go of Natsu's hand to try to stand, but failed.

She collapsed, breathing raggedly and lay down next to Natsu clasping his hand tightly once more.

His chest still rose and fell with breath. All was not lost.

Lisanna took a deep breath. "Help!" She shouted, her voice pained and depressingly feeble. But she had to keep going. Natsu might still be alive for now, but who knew how long that would last. Even as she shouted, she thought she sensed his heart beating slower, his breathes becoming more ragged.

"Help! Someone! Wendy! Mira-nee! Elf-nii-chan! Anyone!"

She kept shouting until her voice could take no more and she was completely out of breath. Wheezing, she went limp. Her vision was swirling. She was certain she was about to black out, but just before she did she thought she caught a flash of blue hovering above her.

Then everything faded to oblivion.

Death isn't black. Natsu realized. It's blinding white.

Or was he actually dead? Natsu mused. Well how could he figure that out?

Natsu reached out his senses. It wasn't cold or warm. But it wasn't just empty space. Natsu was lying on something and he had a body.

He got up. It didn't hurt as he was sure it would have if he was alive.

He looked around. It was still just white. He was standing on something, but it was just white space.

"This is weird." He muttered.

"It is, isn't it?" a startlingly familiar voice said.

He turned towards it and as he did so the white solidified into some place else. A place equally familiar.

He was now standing in front of the guild hall facing Lisanna Strauss.

"Lisanna?" He said, startled. "What are you doing here? Where is here? How are we back at the guild?" He paused for a moment frowning. "Are we dead?"

Lisanna's expression was oddly blank. Then she broke into a smile. She had a beautiful smile, a mesmerizing smile.

"Of course not." She said. She continued talking, her lips were moving, but Natsu heard no words.

Instead, his memory which has gone blank at the sight of her smile was being filled in.

Of course he was at the guild. Where else would he be? He spent most of his time at the guild with Lisanna, his….wife. How could he have forgotten that?

Memories flooded in of years spent together. Happy years full of light and companionship. The guild was at the top of its game. Everything was well. What had he been so concerned about?

Then Lisanna reached out a hand to guide him into the guild and he stopped caring.

Consciousness starting creeping in on Lisanna. She let out a little moan wishing it would go away, wishing she could fall back into peaceful oblivion.

Then she remembered the flash of blue and the slowing rise and fall of Natsu's chest.

She jerked, trying to sit up. Then fell back in a flare of pain.

Tentatively, eyes still closed, she felt her sides. Bandaged, heavily.

Still, she thought, opening her eyes, she felt a lot better than she had earlier.

The ceiling was white, but that didn't tell her much. Looking down, she saw she was in a bed. She was in the infirmary.

To her right was Natsu, equally heavily bandaged and still unconscious.

She frowned in concern.

The door to the infirmary opened a few minutes later, jolting her out of her daze.

It was Lucy carrying a small bouquet of flowers.

"Lisanna!" She smiled. "You're awake!"

"Lucy." Lisanna returned the smile. "What happened? Last thing I remember-"

She paused as the memories came flooding back. Natsu had said he loved her.

"Is Natsu okay?"

Lucy pulled up a chair between their beds, remaining silent while she changed out the bouquet of flowers that rested on the table there.

"He's alive." She said. "We all are, but you were both very badly wounded. I should get Wendy or Porlyusica. They're be able to explain it better and make sure you're okay."

That didn't exactly reassure her, but Lisanna nodded. "Okay. Thanks, Lucy."

"No problem. I'm glad you woke up." She paused. "We were afraid you wouldn't for a while there."

"That reminds me!" Lisanna said, causing Lucy who was at the door to pause. "How long was I out?"

"It's been a week. You'll have a lot of catch up on. Oh! And Mirajane and Elfman will want to see you."

Lisanna bit her lip. "They must have been so worried."

Lucy nodded. "They were. Be right back!"

"Kay!"

Lisanna sighed, her thoughts whirling.

"Oh Natsu." She whispered, gazing at him worriedly.

A few moments later Lucy returned with Porlyusica and Wendy.

"Lisanna!" Wendy cried.

"Hi Wendy." Lisanna said. "Ms. Porlyusica." She nodded, trying to sit up. She winced.

"None of that." Porlyusica said. "Wendy and I didn't go to all the trouble of keeping you alive for you to hurt yourself. Don't move a muscle."

Lisanna lay back down. "Okay." She paused. "Can you tell me what I missed?"

Wendy spoke up and Lucy took her seat again.

"I heard your shouts. I was healing Erza at the time." Wendy paused. "She tried to take on too many Golems at once. She's okay though."

"Mostly." Porlyusica muttered.

Lucy shot her a look.

"Everyone is fine." Lucy said, angrily. Lisanna got the feeling it was meant to be reassuring but it set her on edge more than anything else.

"Anyways," Wendy shifted nervously. "I finished up healing Erza and despite Carla telling me to take it easy, I went after your shouts. When I got there you and Natsu were fading fast, but I managed to stabilize the two of you."

"I hope you appreciate it." Porlyusica said. "Silly girl used up most of her magic during this battle."

"Oh Wendy." Lisanna said. "I do appreciate it. Thank you so much."

"It wasn't that big of a deal." She said. "I just wish I could've helped everyone out more."

"Wendy, you were a big help!" Lucy said. "Half the guild owes their lives to you in some way or another."

"If we're done with the touchy feely stuff," Porlyusica said. "Perhaps we should check to ensure Lisanna is in no danger of dying immediately."

Lisanna winced at her harsh words.

Lucy looked unimpressed. "I've been putting up with her all week since I've been visiting you guys." She whispered to Lisanna.

"Oh wow." She whispered back. "Thanks for visiting us by the way."

"No problem."

"Are you done?"

Lucy jumped. Lisanna was about to before she remembered she wasn't supposed to.

"Yes." The two of them said in unison.

"Wendy?" Porlyusica said. "You know what to do."

Wendy nodded. "Okay, Lisanna." She said. "Just stand still I'm going to use my magic to make sure everything's alright."

Lisanna was going to nod, but then thought better of it. "Okay."

Wendy raised her hands and a glowing blue orb formed between them. Brow furrowed in concentration, Wendy moved the ball over the length of Lisanna's body. It pulsed orange when it hovered over Lisanna's broken ribs, but other than that it seemed to be fine.

Then Wendy dropped her hands and smiled. "You're doing fine. Your ribs seem to be healing, the Golem broke or fractured about half of them, but other than them you're perfectly healthy. Take it easy though, okay?"

"Sure, Wendy." Lisanna nodded. "How's Natsu doing though? Lucy said you two could give me a better answer."

"Not well." Porlyusica said shortly.

Lisanna's eyes widened.

"He's okay." Wendy said, reassuringly. "He's not gonna die anytime soon. But…well, he sustained a lot of damage. We don't know when he's going to wake up."

"He took a hit to the back of his head and the front of his chest. He's healing fine, but he hasn't shone any signs of returning to consciousness." Porlyusica said. "Well that's not true." She amended dryly. "He said your name once."

She whirled around, starting to head out the door. "I'm going to make sure no one in the guild has killed themselves. Wendy, you do know what to do."

"I don't know why I help these people." She muttered.

Lisanna raised an eyebrow and cast a look at Lucy and Wendy.

"You get used to her." Lucy said.

"She's not so bad," Wendy defended.

"Well I think she likes you. So much as she can like anybody."

"Um." Lisanna interrupted. "So what happened with the Golem's? What did Porlyusica mean by saying Erza was mostly okay? What did I miss?"

"Oh right." Lucy said. "I forgot you'd missed so much."

"It's okay." Lisanna said.

"So we won. Obviously." Lucy laughed. "I don't think we'd all be here to talk about it if we hadn't."

"Well that's a relief." Lisanna smiled.

"Yeah so. I took out a Golem with the help of Cana." Her expression turned downcast. "I almost used up all of my magic doing so…"

"Oh my gosh." Lisanna said, concerned. "Are you okay?"

Lucy nodded. "Scared Cana have to death. But I had just enough determination to stay alive." She cracked a grin. "I spent a few days in here myself. Well really, most of the guild did. It was a brutal battle."

Wendy nodded in agreement. "I was so worried for everyone."

Lucy put an arm around Wendy's shoulder. "You should've been a bit more worried for yourself. You slept for a day after everything died down a little. Your healing magic was invaluable, but you shouldn't have over-tasked yourself."

"I know." Wendy said. "Carla was so mad at me."

"Anyways," Lucy continued. "Erza was incredible. She took out around five Golems in a row."

"Oh wow!" Lisanna said.

"Yeah…but she kept going after she should've quit. it was the sixth Golem that, well she nearly died. She was totally out of magic and seriously injured." Lucy said. Even though it was in the past the memory of the event clearly pained her.

"What happened?" Lisanna said, anxiously.

"You remember how Erza said she was calling in some reinforcements before the battle?"

Lisanna nodded.

"That's when they arrived." Lucy's expression turned the tiniest bit mischievous. "Jellal went looking for her immediately.

"She brought in Crime Sorcière?"

Lucy nodded. "Jellal saved her life. He took out the sixth Golem and carried her away from the danger to where Wendy could heal her."

"Wow. Good timing." Lisanna said. "Was Erza okay?"

Lucy and Wendy nodded, hesitantly.

"What? What happened to her?"

"Nothing." Lucy said, hurriedly. "She just has a scar."

"A scar?" That didn't sound do bad. Everyone in Fairy Tail had at least a few scars. Impossible not to in their profession. Lisanna had several herself. She had a particularly big one on her stomach where the Beast hit her. She pushed that thought aside. She didn't like where it led.

"Down the right side of her face." Lucy traced the shape with her finger. It extended from corner of her eye to her lip. "But other than that she didn't take any lasting damage." She sighed. "Though she still did take a lot. She only left the infirmary yesterday."

Lisanna frowned sadly. "At least we're all alive…" She said quietly.

Lucy nodded before continuing. "The Thunder Legion took out a Golem. They didn't sustain any lasting damage though Freid will be using a crutch for a while. Gray and Juvia took out a Golem. As did Gajeel and Levy. I'm told Jet and Droy helped them, but uh…"

She trailed off and Lisanna laughed. She doubted they were much help.

"They're all fine." Her expression darkened. "I'm amazed Juvia is alive though. Apparently she threw herself in the path of a Golem projectile to protect Gray."

Lisanna gasped. "How did she survive?"

"She used her water body to slow it down enough for Gray to make an ice shield. It passed through her and detonated against it. Unfortunately the blast knocked Gray unconscious. He had a concussion. Fortunately that made Juvia mad enough that she was able to defeat the Golem. It was a close call though."

"And Gajeel, Levy and the others?" Lisanna asked curiously.

"Gajeel won't say, but we think he used his magic to protect everyone so none of them took any lasting damage. Their fight took forever though and no of them will say what happened." Lucy replied.

"It's really weird." Wendy said. "I wonder what happened."

"I guess it doesn't matter since they took down the Golem and all of them survived."

"What about my siblings?" Lisanna asked.

Lucy smiled. "I heard it was quite a fight. I think they'd rather tell you what happened themselves."

Lisanna smiled. "I look forward to it. I'm sure they were incredible."

"That reminds me!" Lucy said. "We don't know what happened in you and Natsu's fight!"

Lisanna looked down. "Is it okay if I tell you later?"

Lucy and Wendy nodded understandingly.

"Okay so that's Erza and Jellal's six. You and Natsu's one. Elfman and Mirajane's one. The Thunder's Legion's. Gray and Juvia's. Gajeel, Levy, Droy and Jet. That's eleven of the Golems." Wendy said. "That leaves two."

"Oh yeah!" Lucy said. "Cana and I took out one. Like I said earlier. So who was the last one..?"

"The Master showed up then and took out the last one. Don't you remember, Lucy?"

Lucy shook her head. "Must've been unconscious then. And no one at the Guild told me about it."

"That's probably because the Master did such a good job taking the Golem out there wasn't much of a fight to tell."

Lucy laughed. "Yeah. You're probably right."

"What happened when we took out all of the Golems?"

"Well." Lucy paused, collecting her thoughts. "Once we defeated all of the Golems the door to the center of the maze opened like we expected. Most of us weren't in fighting shape by then, but those of us who were including Master Makarov defeated the woman who was behind all this. We were able to pull the master switch to turn off all of the Golems and that was that."

"Good." Lisanna said.

"Now if only Natsu would wake up, we could just about leave all of this behind us."

Wendy and Lisanna nodded in agreement.

Lisanna thought she heard Lucy mutter darkly, "Or at least I hope we can."

But she chose to pretend not to hear that. It was clear this had been a trying battle of all of them.

"We should leave you to get rest." Wendy said, suddenly. "I'll tell your siblings to stop by later."

"Um..no actually." Lisanna said. "You don't have to do that." In truth, she felt she had rather had enough rest for now and she was afraid of what nightmares might find her should she fall back into it. "I can tell you how Natsu and my battle went if you want?"

She thought perhaps talking about it would make things easier for her troubled mind.

Lucy nodded cautiously. "If you want."

Lisanna nodded and took a deep breath.

Natsu sat side by side with Lisanna at their house. It was a modest house, but it was cozy. Lisanna kept it very neat and Natsu liked it. How long had they had it? When did they buy it? How much was it? Natsu didn't know. It seemed as if this had been his home for a long, long time. He felt much too content to attempt to fill in the holes in his life.

In fact, none of the holes seemed important at all. He was married to the love of his life. The Guild was ranked the number one guild in Fiorre. Everyone was happy.

So what did it matter if he couldn't remember everything? He ignored that itch in the back of his mind that told him he had something important to attend to. That was he was missing something.

"What do you want to do today, Natsu?" Lisanna asked with another mesmerizing smile.

"Let's go to the guild." Natsu said. "See if they have any fun looking jobs."

"Sounds good." Lisanna replied. She took his hand and they walked to the Guild together.

Yes. Natsu reassured himself. Everything was fine.

The request board was filled with jobs each more exciting and well paying than the last.

They took their time selecting one, chatting with Lucy and Happy and the rest of the guild before setting off.

Lisanna was almost finished with her story. Reliving the battle was emotionally exhausting for her, but she hoped she would feel better once it was done. Besides, her friends deserved to know what has happened after so kindly filling her on some of what she had missed.

"I-I stumbled over to Natsu." She said. As she remembered all that has been said, she found herself unable to speak, her throat blocked by a lump.

"Lisanna?" Wendy said, worriedly.

"I'm okay." She lied. Natsu had told her he loved her and she had said she loved him in return and now he was in a coma and there were unsure when he would wake up. She was far from okay. To top it all off the Guild was seemingly very battered from their battle. "Do we have any water?"

"Oh! Sorry, Lisanna." Lucy said. "We should've given you some sooner." She ran out and quickly got some.

Lisanna took a long drink of it. "He uh, said some things and I said some things. Then he passed out. I was terrified, but he was still breathing so I started shouting for help and at the same time I realized I was in pretty bad shape myself. I collapsed on the ground next to Natsu." She didn't mention the hand holding. "And I kept shouting until I couldn't anymore. I was just about to black out when I caught a flash of blue. That must have been you, Wendy."

Wendy nodded.

"Thanks for telling us, Lisanna." Lucy said. "We'll let you get some rest now."

Lisanna nodded, her thoughts still back with Natsu. "Okay. See you guys later!"

"Bye!"

"Bye!"

It took Lisanna some time to fall back asleep after Lucy and Wendy left, and when she did, she didn't sleep well. She didn't remember any of her dreams when she awoke, but she felt distinctly unsettled.

She immediately looked over at Natsu. He was still unconscious. She sighed. She didn't know why she expected anything different.

She was growing antsy coped up in the infirmary even though it hadn't been long. She couldn't roll over in case it hurt her ribs and there was nothing for her to do.

About an hour later, a distraction arrived in the form of Mirajane and Elfman, both sporting a few bruises and bandages, but looking well overall.

"Mira-nee! Elf-nii-chan!"

They rushed over to her. "Lisanna!" They smiled.

After assuring them she was alright, she asked them for news of the guild and how their battle with the Golem had gone.

"The Guild's doing fine." Mirajane said reassuringly. Lisanna wasn't entirely sure whether or not to believe her though. It was possible she just didn't want to worry her.

"And our battle against the Golem was super manly!" Elfman said, enthusiastically. "You should've seen your sister!"

"You weren't bad yourself, Elfman." Mira said, sweetly.

"I was a little preoccupied fighting my own Golem with Natsu, if you remember, Elf-nii." Lisanna said, lightly.

"How did your battle go?" Elfman asked. "The Golem was shattered, but you and Natsu were both down."

"What your brother means to say," Mira interrupted. "Is that we're proud of you and glad you're alright."

Lisanna smiled. That was something she'd only just realized she'd needed to here. A part of her felt like a failure, she realized. A part of her feared that if she had done better Natsu might still be conscious. A part of her was ashamed that she and Natsu had been the most injured out of all of the guild.

"Tell me about you guys' fight first. I heard it was really something."

"You bet it was!" Elfman roared then launched into a spirited retelling of it. Occasionally Mira interrupted correcting him on the details.

It was indeed an epic tale and Lisanna was proud of her two siblings.

They stayed and chatted for a while filling Lisanna in on anything else she had missed before leaving and promising to stop by later.

Lisanna spent another week in the infirmary. Natsu remained unconscious and Lisanna grew more worried.

Wendy and Lucy and a few other friends stopped by occasionally and Levy lent her a book which she enjoyed. It was a classic tale involving a princess and a dragon and a knight, but it had a twist in that it was the knight who was the evil one and the dragon was a benevolent protector.

Lisanna grinned. She still hoped to meet Igneel with Natsu one day. Then she sighed, hoping Natsu would wake up so he could carry on trying to find him.

Porlyusica and Wendy checked up on her daily and Lisanna's ribs slowly began to feel better.

Then on the seventh day, Wendy gave her a final scan with the orb. The color when it hovered over her chest was now yellow which meant she was well enough to leave. Wendy told her to take it easy and come back a few times for check ups.

Then, with Mira's help, she left the infirmary and returned to her room in Fairy Hills, feeling physically better, but still emotionally unwell.

"It'll be good to get back to training and hanging around the guild." Lisanna said aloud, lying on her bed. "And surely, Natsu will wake up sooner or later? I mean, it hasn't been that long…." She sighed. She didn't think she, or the rest of the guild for that matter, would be able to move on from the traumatic battle until everyone was well again.

The guild was having a party. Natsu didn't remember why, but he was having a good time. So good a time that the nagging sensation in the back of his mind that told him, "This is wrong. I shouldn't be here. I should be some place else." All but disappeared.

He frowned trying to recall what he needed to do. Who he needed to talk to maybe?

He shook his head. He had all he needed right here.

Natsu took another swig of his drink and was then promptly knocked into by someone.

He turned to Lisanna who was sitting beside him and kissed her on the cheek briefly. "Be right back!"

"Try not to kill anyone!" She laughed as he raced off after who ever had hit him.

Lisanna went into the guild the next day even though she couldn't go on any missions yet. That didn't really matter. She just wanted to see how everybody was doing. Her friends greeted her with smiles, saying they were glad she was doing better, but Lisanna was rather stunned by the state everyone was in. No one from the guild seemed to be completely free of injury even though it had been two weeks since the battle.

Sure she'd heard that everyone was a bit battered, but it was still something to see in person. Lucy was one of the few people who wasn't sporting a bandage and even she still had several bruises from the fight. Lucy had also expressed the complaint that her magic reserves were still drained from the fight.

It was going to be a long while before the Guild was back in shape.

The biggest shock was probably Erza. They said she had a scar and had taken a lot of damage, but in person that amounted to a jagged scar that was vivid red. It drew the eye and looked painful as hell and Erza was covered in bruises and bandages.

Frankly Lisanna was shocked she was out of the infirmary. When she mentioned this, Lucy nodded saying that Erza had insisted she be let out before she was cleared.

"She insists she's fine. That it looks worse than it is, but I'm not sure whether to believe her." Lucy remarked sadly.

Lisanna sighed, ignoring the now familiar twinge of pain in her ribs.

Months passed and everyone's wounds healed. More or less. Lisanna suspected no one would ever be quite the same after what they went through.

Natsu still hadn't woken up and Lisanna visited him often accompanied by Lucy sometimes.

They would talk to him in the hopes that he would hear them and wake up, but he never did.

Natsu was having dinner with Lisanna when it happened the first time. He was just enjoying the food and her company when the nagging sensation in the back of his mind intensified along with the peculiar sensation that someone was talking to him just out of ear shot. He tried to hear what was being said, but when he did that everything around him dimmed a little bit and felt unreal.

Natsu didn't like that so he tried to ignore it, but it kept happening. Sometimes it even felt like someone was touching him.

On the surface, the Guild appeared fine, but that wasn't true. They were missing their energy, their passion, their heart.

Lisanna hoped when Natsu woke up they'd be able to move on, but for now she just kept moving the best she could.

But when she laid down to sleep in the evenings, memories drifted to the surface, penetrating her dreams. She remembered the last words she'd heard Natsu say. She remembered the tales her friends had told. She remembered Erza's scar and Lucy's weakness and her sibling's worry and the Guild's broken spirit.

She wondered if Natsu was having any dreams in his coma.

If my life is so good, Natsu wondered. Why do I not feel happy? What am I missing?

The nagging sensation seemed to be getting stronger rather than going away. As much as he tried to ignore it and enjoy his life, he still felt he was missing something.

He continued in limbo for several months thought he was unsure how much time had passed. He felt stuck or maybe muted. Like he was missing his heart.

And that concerned him. If he wasn't happy here with everything going so well, then could he ever be happy?

Then a certain day rolled around and everything changed.

It all came to a head on the day that Natsu had first joined the guild. Normally, the Guild would've used this as an excuse to throw a party, but now it just reminded Lisanna and the rest of the Guild that they were missing one of their number. It reminded them that they couldn't move on yet. That they were still stuck. Natsu's absence was as painful and noticeable a reminder as Erza's scar.

Lisanna was struck by the painful realization that perhaps this was what it was like for Natsu and the guild when she was gone in Edolas.

Perhaps it was even worse, she mused. After all there was still the chance that Natsu would wake up. She sighed.

Her ribs no longer hurt. They were completely healed though she now bore a small scar on her fist where the Golem's shards of clay had cut her. She rubbed it absently before making up her mind to spend the day with Natsu. Maybe she could get though to him.

She sighed wasn't likely. She hadn't been able to wake him up any of the other times she'd visited him. Neither had Lucy or anyone else from the guild.

Still, maybe today was the day. Trying to remain optimistic, she got up from where she was seated and walked over to the infirmary. No one paid her any mind. They were used to it.

She entered without knocking and took a seat beside her sleeping love.

He really did look peaceful when asleep. Glancing around to make sure no one else was in the infirmary she brushed a few strands of his pink hair away from his forehead.

"Can you hear me, Natsu?" She asked. "It's the day you came to the guild you know. We're all thinking of you and missing you."

She took a deep breath holding back a sob. "It's been three months, five days and roughly two hours since you fell asleep." She laughed weakly. "That's a long nap."

Fairy Tail knows how to party and it was partying hard. Natsu was in the thick of it, sometimes accompanied by Lisanna, sometimes not.

But it was strange because the more he partied the more the nagging sensation grew.

Then he had one of those strange feelings. This time it felt like ghostly fingers were brushing his hair off his forehead. It was very disconcerting.

No longer in the mood to party, he took a seat. A second later, the strange feeling returned but now it was like a voice just out of ear shot. He strained to make out was it was saying, but he couldn't quite.

The chaos around him seemed to be dimmed, like it existed on a different plane from him and at the same time, the just out of ear shot voices seemed to grow louder as he concentrated on them. He got a single phrase.

"…..a long nap."

What in the world did that mean?

Lisanna was tired of feeling sad, of feeling worried. She was sick of letting the past haunt her, but she couldn't move on. Natsu was her best friend in all the world and more than that. She loved him and he loved her. She knew that now. They had over come parallel dimensions and their own lack of communication.

Wasn't this supposed to be the part where they lived happily ever after?

Lisanna nearly laughed with the realization that no, this wasn't. This was the part where the princess awakens her prince with True Love's Kiss.

"At least that's how the story's supposed to go." She said aloud. "Who knows if it would really work?" She paused. "Well there's only one way to find out. What have I got to lose?"

She stood up and leaned forward, pushing aside her feelings of foolishness.

It was awkward from her angle, but she managed to press her lips to his.

The voice kept going for a few minutes. He thought he caught the phrase, "What have I got to lose?"

Then his eyes widened as he felt a familiar sensation or at least he thought it was familiar. It was the sensation of a kiss both something entirely new and completely the same as a kiss from Lisanna.

As he tried to work out what was going on, everything faded even more until that sensation was the only feeling left. Then even that disappeared and everything was black.

Lisanna pulled back, strangely put out it hadn't work.

It hadn't worked, right? Natsu was still asleep.

But then…it didn't seem the same as before. Had his breathing pattern changed? He looked different like he was simply asleep. Before he looked completely out of it.

"Natsu?" She asked, quietly.

Silence.

And then. "Li-lisanna…" It was faint. Just a murmur. But it was something.

"Natsu!" She beamed. "I'll be back in just a moment. I'm going to go get Wendy."

She turned to do so, but Natsu reached out and grabbed her hand.

Natsu was asleep. Or half asleep. One of the two. He felt more peaceful and content than he had in ages. The nagging sensation in the back of his mind was gone.

"Natsu?"

He picked up on that tiny whisper of noise through his dream like state. The voice was too familiar not to.

"Li-lisanna?" He murmured, still in a dream like state. It was so cozy in this state. He didn't want to wake up. What was there to be concerned about?

"Natsu! I'll be back in a moment. I'm going to go get Wendy."

Wait no. That was something to be concerned about. He didn't want her to leave.

He snatched her hand.

And then he jolted upright.

The feel of her hand triggered the memory of their last encounter. All of his memories came flooding back. Of Lisanna's defeat of the Golem, of their final words to each other, of fading, fading, fading, unsure if he was going to be alright, if Lisanna was going to be alright.

He opened his eyes and there she was. Lisanna was alive. She wasn't even covered in bandages. She looked perfectly healthy.

"Lisanna!" He shouted. "What happened?"

Then she did the thing he least expected. She broke down crying.

"Natsu!" She sobbed. "You're awake."

"Yeah…of course I'm awake. Why are you crying?" He said, very confused and disconcerted.

He tried to swing his legs around to get out of bed, but as soon as they hit the ground, his knees buckled and he collapsed.

Lisanna put an arm around him.

"What's going on?" He asked, totally confused. "The last thing I remember was blacking out after the Golem and then…wait did that happen?"

Lisanna was still crying, but she wiped her eyes and spoke, grinning. "You were asleep for three months, five days and a few hours." She replied. "We didn't know if you'd ever wake up! You've missed so much."

Natsu was thunderstruck. "That's a long nap." He frowned. "I had strange dreams."

"You did?" Lisanna asked, curiously. "You'll have to tell me about them later. Get back in bed, I'm going to go get Wendy."

"I'm fine." He insisted.

"Natsu, you slept for three months after nearly dying I wouldn't be so sure."

Natsu spent another couple days in the infirmary. Lisanna was with him constantly. Lucy spent a lot of time there too and several other members of the guild stopped by on occasion.

When Natsu got out, the guild threw a huge party though Lisanna made sure Natsu didn't get into any fights best she could. He was going to have to be in physical therapy for a few weeks before he was back to his old self and it was going to take ages to fill him in on all that he had missed.

All in all, Natsu and Lisanna were so busy that they didn't have a chance to just sit and talk for a while.

Lisanna got the opportunity one day when most of the guild was out on missions.

"Hey Lisanna." Natsu said. "This sucks. I can't go on any missions for another week according to Porlyusica."

"I'm sorry, Natsu." Lisanna said. "But on the bright side…we finally got a chance to sit and talk."

"Oh yeah." Natsu said. "We've been so busy we haven't really had a chance to talk about… what happened."

Lisanna paused for a moment before pushing forward. She was done with waiting. She leaned closer to Natsu.

"I love you." She said. "And you love me. Unless that changed while you were sleeping."

Natsu didn't hesitate. "Of course not. It didn't change over the two years you were away. Why would it change now?"

Lisanna beamed. "Of course." She needed to stop doubting and put some faith in their love. Even when all of the odds were against them, they found a way and they always would.

Whatever happened in the future, they would face it. Together.


End file.
